Militia ‘aiming to create a separate state’ near border with Somalia

The Catholic Bishop of Garissa claims that there is a movement to create an Islamic state in the region of north-eastern Kenya that includes his diocese, writes Fredrick Nzwili.

On 2 April Al-Shabaab terrorists murdered 148 people at Garissa University. The terrorists separated Christian students from Muslims and murdered the Christians. Bishop Paul Darmanin said Somali Muslim refugees now feel more secure than the Christian workers in the area. “There are attempts to establish Garissa as an Islamic state and that is why Muslim refugees feel more comfortable than the Christian civil servants,” the Maltese bishop said. The systematic separation of people was “dangerous and must be stopped”.

The bishop’s comments came as Kenyan security agencies said they were investigating a secessionist movement in northern Kenya, which is recruiting Muslim youths. It wants to create a “Gharre Nation”, the director of the Kenya Criminal Investigation Department, Ndegwa Muhoro, told the press. Fr Alfred Muriithi, a Catholic priest in Wajir, capital of Wajir county that neighbours Garissa county, said he had heard “whispers” about the Gharre state.